The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-308498 filed on Oct. 6, 2000 the entire contents thereof is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a beach cleaner for use in cleaning a sandy beach such as a bathing beach.
2. Description of Background Art
As a beach cleaner to be used for recovering empty cans, PET bottles and caps thereof, wooden pieces, etc. scattered on a sandy beach such as a bathing beach there is known a beach cleaner as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-224413. This beach cleaner recovers waste while being towed by a traction vehicle. Sand is dug up together with waste by means of an excavating roller provided in a front position. Thereafter, the sand and the waste are delivered to a waste carrying section disposed on a rear side as the beach cleaner is moved. Then, in the waste carrying section, the waste and the sand are separated from each other and the waste is received in a waste receptacle portion.
There also is known a beach cleaner as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 3-138203. In this beach cleaner, which is a self-traveling type, waste mixed in sand are scooped up together with the sand and are conveyed by means of a belt conveyor while sweeping away the sand to recover the waste.
In the beach cleaner disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-224413, an excavating roller for excavating sand together with waste is provided in a front position thereof and a waste carrying section for separating waste from sand thus excavated and receiving the separated waste is provided in a rear position thereof. This construction gives rise to a problem wherein the cleaner as a whole becomes large in size and the structure of the cleaner becomes complicated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a beach cleaner that is small in size and simple in structure.
For achieving the above-mentioned object according to the present invention there is provided a beach cleaner for recovering waste while traveling in a towed state by a traction vehicle, e.g., a traction vehicle 11 used in an embodiment of the invention. The beach cleaner comprising a grating-like portion, e.g., a grating-like portion 22 used in the embodiment which scoops up waste present in front of the beach cleaner as the beach cleaner is moved. A reticulate portion, e.g., a reticulate portion 29 used in the embodiment, is formed behind the grating-like portion to hold waste.
Thus, the beach cleaner is provided with a grating-like portion which scoops up waste present in front of the beach cleaner as the beach cleaner is moved and is also provided with a reticulate portion which is formed behind the grating-like portion to hold waste. Thus, when front waste is scooped up by the grating-like portion as the beach cleaner is moved while being towed by the traction vehicle, the waste is delivered onto the grating-like portion and the sand also scooped up together with the wastes drops through gaps formed in the grating-like portion. The waste scraped up with the grating-like portion is held with a reticulate portion which is formed behind the grating-like portion.
According to the present invention there is provided a beach cleaner wherein a gap in the grating-like portion is set to be similar to a gap in the reticulate portion. Thus, since a gap in the grating-like portion is set to be similar to a gap in the reticulate portion, the waste scraped up with the grating-like portion can be held with the reticulate portion with reliability.
According to the present invention there is provided a beach cleaner wherein the gap in the grating-like portion is set at approximately 20 mm. Thus, since the gap in the grating-like portion is set at approximately 20 mm, it is possible to accurately recover empty cans, PET bottles and caps thereof, which are the largest in number as waste.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.